Debris from the March 11, 2011, Japan tsunami is reaching a different stage in its drift across the Pacific, with heavier and larger objects contributing to coastal garbage patches in Hawaii, University of Hawaii researchers said.
"It’s hard to tell, but it’s going to be heavier debris than earlier this year," researcher Nikolai Maximenko said. "We do not have good information about what is in the water."
Carey Morishige, a federal marine debris coordinator, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anticipates that through the winter, seasonal changes in North Pacific winds and currents will cause more flotsam to wash ashore on the West Coast.
Based on reports from mariners, Maximenko said, the heavier debris found in the ocean includes docks, overturned boats and wooden logs that are lower in the water and driven more by currents than wind.
In Hawaii, Kamilo Beach on the southeast coast of Hawaii island likely will get more than its share. Ocean garbage seems to collect there from many areas.
UH researcher Henry Carson found a Japanese refrigerator there Oct. 27.
Hawaii Wildlife Fund official Megan Lamson said about 15 to 20 tons of marine debris are removed annually from a 10-mile stretch of coastline that includes Kamilo Beach.
About half of the items are fishing nets, and the other half miscellaneous plastic items, including small pieces of plastic in patches a foot deep, officials said.
Maximenko said some of the tsunami debris is headed west, while other debris will end up in a vortex in the Pacific garbage patch between Hawaii and California.
Researchers said studies are being conducted about the impact of plastics consumed by fish and birds in the ocean.
Carson said many plastic materials have bite marks from marine animals.
He said the consequences of animals consuming plastics that carry toxins could be serious, although studies aren’t completed.
"That’s one of the big worries," he said.
Lamson said she hopes the public will understand the importance of recycling and reducing the use of plastics.
"We live on an island," she said. "It’s a vulnerable place."
